Thursday, November 10, 2011

Is that all there is?

Rick Perry trips over his tongue. Herman Cain trips over his libido. Mitt Romney changes his positions as frequently as some people change their clothes. Is this really the best the Republican Party has to offer as leaders?

Perry's appalling performance in last night's GOP debate, where he couldn't even remember his own well-rehearsed talking points, is the latest affront to the intelligence of Americans serious about tackling our nation's financial woes.

But it's not terribly surprising in the sense that the entire GOP effort is designed to make Americans forget who got us into this mess in the first place through credit card spending on two wars and lax-to-nonexistent regulation of the Wall Street 1 percent.

Perry's blunder helped take the heat off Cain and the serial accusations of sexual harassment being leveled at him by women who entered his orbit while he led the National Restaurant Association. For one night at least, Cain was allowed to avoid having to engage in a he said, she said, she said, she said, she said discussion.

Just as well because he has been as clear as Perry and has offered as many stories as Romney.

Add to this cast of characters Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Rich Santorum and Newt Gingrich and you have to ask yourself how the GOP could once actually tout itself as the party of ideas. All they have offered are discredited leftovers like tax cuts for the rich and electrified fences on the Mexican border.

Unless or until both political parties engage in a serious discussion of how we got here and what we must do to get moving, there is no real possible improvement in our situation or the toxic mood.

And as long as the Republican Party offers the fourth string, we won't have that discussion. Is the GOP really this devoid of dynamic, fresh leaders with courage and new ideas?

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

The power of instant messaging even got through to Bank of America. Partly because of the on-line petition they agreed to drop the debit fee. We need to get the 99% to send a message that gets picked up by the media. One simple thing at a time, how about No federal pension for politicians over 100,000 a year. Take care of the little things ....